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| This photo of the tourist map of this area gives a good overview of this site. We entered through the gate on the upper left and wandered on through taking pictures, not knowing exactly what all of this was. It was evident that it was a monastery and we kept following the signs until we went through the long covered walkway shown winding in the upper right of the map down to the the beginning of the lower caves. It was good that we followed some believing babushkas through the cave past the sarcophaguses of Orthodox saints which they reverently kissed. The mummies were all covered with holy clothes and some date back to 1114. Many of these orthodox buildings are very old; some have been restored. This area is jointly held by the state and Ukrainian Orthodox Church. You can get more information on this area on the internet Wikipedia site at "Kiev Perchersk Lavra" which is what we did when we returned home afterwards. It is a place we will return to when it is warmer; it was overcast and drizzled a bit as we were there but the gold domes shone anyway! This is only a sample of many of them. You see them from many points in the city dotting the hillside overlooking the Dnieper River. |
